Main Street Canandaigua revamp needs more time, money

Wednesday

Sep 25, 2013 at 10:59 AMSep 25, 2013 at 10:59 AM

By Scott Pukos

spukos@messengerpostmedia.com

CANANDAIGUA — Running over budget and behind schedule, completion of the city of Canandaigua's $1.6 million Main Street revamp will require additional time, along with slightly more than $41,000, said City Manager David Forrest.

The city's original goal was to complete the construction — which includes addition of new sidewalks, rain gardens, sewer replacement and more — Sept. 30. In a letter to City Council, Assistant City Manager Bryan White said work on the west side of Main Street will be “substantially complete by the end of (September).” The remainder of the work — primarily adding brick pavers and fencing — on the east side is now expected to be finished in October, White said.

According to Public Works Director Jim Sprague, additional costs have stemmed from additional downspout orders, replacing concrete steps on sidewalks, backfilling spots in the sidewalk and resetting the curb in certain areas. The additional $41,327 needed for the project will come from the Public Works operating budget, Sprague said.

At Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting, city staff listed the updated price tag on the project as $1.67 million. That figure included $130,000 in contingency funds that have been used up.

White added in his letter that construction crew DiFiore Construction, of Rochester, has helped to keep the cost from rising higher than the additional $41,000.

“The contractor has added two additional crews to the project and outsourced various tasks,” White said. He added that the delays are primarily due to obstacles involved with digging into the ground that would have been difficult to plan for.

While overall completion is behind the planned schedule, 35 trees are still set to be added this fall, while flowers, shrubs and other perennials will be added in the spring.

Councilmember Jim Terwilliger noted that when trees were removed in 2011 in order to install a new gas main, New York State Gas and Electric (NYSEG) was going to pay for 30 replacement trees. Sprague said NYSEG did contribute money to the city that will help fund the new trees; however, it won't specifically be paying for the replacements.

White was not present at Tuesday's Finance Committee meeting when a Main Street update was given to City Council.